The firm that manages the Gastonia Conference Center is fielding fresh criticism about the performance of the 1-year-old building.

Michael Barrett

The firm that manages the Gastonia Conference Center is fielding fresh criticism about the performance of the 1-year-old building.

Gastonia City Council members probed everything from the financial health of the operation to the amount of time the building’s lights are left on at night. They scrutinized The Wilderman Group’s efforts to market the center online, and questioned whether the firm is doing enough to solicit and publicize customer feedback.

Company founder John Wilderman offered assurances that the conference center, still in its infancy, is showing potential.

“We’ve made remarkable promise in bringing this business along,” he said. “We believe our service has been very well received in the community, along with the product we present.”

Gastoniaanticipated it would see annual operating deficits in the first few years after building the $10 million center. It is paying the tab over 23 years, largely with hotel occupancy tax revenue.

The city signed a five-year contract with the South Carolina-based Wilderman Group to manage the center for $81,600 per year.

Rocky first year

After structural design flaws were discovered in the building shortly after it opened in November 2011, the city shut it down for six weeks in March. All scheduled events were canceled while the conference center’s safety was verified.

The closure had a ripple effect on scheduled events that lasted well past March, and forced The Wilderman Group to do damage control in light of the negative publicity. The deficit in the center’s first fiscal year of operation, which ended June 30, was projected to be $255,000, but ultimately rose to $290,000.

Wilderman told City Council members they have begun to bounce back from that stumbling block. The center hosted a total of 179 events in its first year, and is building on its sales revenue, he said.

“We really hit the ground running and were firing on all cylinders at the end of August and beginning of September,” he said. “Our booking pace is ramping up.”

The firm began by establishing a relationship with local groups to lure more Gaston County events to the center. It has begun expanding its marketing reach to become more of a regional player that can lure corporate business, said conference center sales manager Lauren Braxton.

“Now is the time for us to look regionally and statewide,” she said.

Marketing criticized

City leaders ran through a laundry list of concerns.

Councilwoman Brenda Craig took aim at the lack of “professionalism” of the conference center website. In its media section, links to other online stories about the center are all several months old, and several links are broken. There are miniscule photo galleries of the center’s construction and groundbreaking, but nothing documenting actual events that have taken place there.

“It seems to me, if you’re going to be advertising through the media, you’d want to promote the events you’re having there, with pictures,” she said. “When the website is in the shape it’s in, I don’t think that sends a real strong message that we’ve got a quality venue in Gastonia.”

Wilderman said the website — gastoniaconferencecenter.com — was created and is being managed by a subcontractor. Evaluating such a site can be subjective, but in his eyes, it has been successful.

Groups that rent the center often aren’t interested in having their event documented with photos for public consumption, Wilderman said.

“It’s not our practice to list many events, unless they’re public events, because many of them quite honestly may not want to be listed,” he said.

After events, Wilderman said his firm relies on person-to-person conversations with clients to get feedback on their experience at the center. Councilman Dave Kirlin suggested they also allow online reviews.

“People want information from outside of the organization — feedback from others who have used the facility,” he said.

No conflict?

Councilman Porter McAteer asked whether the center offers special rental rates for local groups that don’t have a lot of money. Wilderman said they have a standard price sheet, and while some wiggle room isn’t out of the question, they’re not a charity.

“If we’re open on a given date, we’re more than happy to sit down and negotiate with groups, provided it makes good financial sense,” he said.

McAteer also criticized the Wilderman Group’s position as the manager of the LeGrand Center, a larger convention facility in Shelby. The firm negotiated that deal earlier this year without first telling City Council members of its plans to manage both facilities.

“I was disappointed in that and I still am,” he said. “It’s hard for me to not think you’re getting business for them that could be coming here.”

Wilderman said the two centers, given their contrasting sizes, don’t compete for the same business. Out of the 179 groups that have held an event at the local conference center, only one was also considering the LeGrand Center at one point, he said.

“They decided on the Gastonia Conference Center because of its size and more intimate scale,” he said. “At this particular point … it’s not something we’re facing on a daily basis,” he said.